More than 17,000 acres were swamped in the Colorado floods that swept through the Denver-Julesburg Basin — one of the most intensively drilled fields in the U.S. — leaving oils spills dotting the area.

In the basin, there are 20,500 active wells in Weld County, 321 in Boulder County, 253 in Larimer County.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has listed 11 oil spills and its aerial survey has found two dozen tanks overturned. By Saturday state inspectors had assessed 35 percent of the affected area and the Commission is still compiling data on flood impacts,.

As of Sept. 23 the commission said it is tracking eight “notable releases” and 10 additional locations with small releases. The commission has tallied 33 sites with damaged tanks or equipment, but no indication of leaks.

The commission calculates it has documented oil spills totaling about 27,000 gallon and of the 1,900 wells that were shut-in during the peak of the flooding, 600 are back in operation.Read more…

Creditors in oilman Roger Parker’s bankruptcy want a closer look at deals he made selling some of his assets in and around the time he filed to reorganize his debts, largely because of revelations that one of the buyers was his live-in-girlfriend-now-wife.

The creditors committee in Parker’s personal bankruptcy — led by Kirk Kerkorian-owned Tracinda Corp. — wants to take testimony from eight different entities that bought interests in Parker-owned assets. The testimony, called a 2004 examination, is a detailed audit of transactions designed to see if there was anything curious about the deals.

A bankruptcy judge approved the exams of all eight, which could make for some interesting reading later on when the results of those inquiries is made public. The exams, much like a deposition, are not public.

Parker, 52, is the former CEO of Delta Petroleum whose alleged insider dealing netted a felony conviction for former insurance exec Michael Van Gilder, Parker’s long-time friend and business associate. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued the pair — though Van Gilder was charged criminally as well — for illegal insider trading connected to Kerkorian’s $684 million buy-in to Delta on New Year’s Day 2008.

Parker filed for bankruptcy just as the investigation was coming to a close. Just before, though, it appears he sold some of his asset interests that creditors now want to have a closer look. That’s because one of the deals, to a company called Ruxece, raised eyebrows.

Ruxece, it turns out, is managed by Erin Wallace, Parker’s now-wife who, at the time, was his girlfriend and ex-wife of Parker’s former business partner at Delta, John Wallace.

Ruxece bought Parker’s treasured membership in the exclusive Whisper Rock Golf Club in Scottsdale, a non-transferable membership that brought him about $100,000 cash. Where that cash came from, however, is what creditors now want to know and they’ve asked to have a peek. Too, Ruxece purchased Paker’s interest in Northern Flights Ranch in November 2012, just before filing to bankruptcy.

Following disclosure of his relationship to Wallace, whom Parker initially described in court only as a “close personal friend,” creditors now want to have a look at other deals:
— Sale of about 62% in Apex Operating Co. to its owners.
— Sale of his interest in Bear Dance to its owners.
— Sale of additonal interest in Apex to Steelhorse.
— Sale of his working interest in a church oil field to JPFP.
— Sale of his interest in Sunstone Beverly Hills to its owners.
— Sale of about 1% of assets to Labyrinth Energy.
— Sale of Mile High Flea Market to MBH Investments.

Who or what the businesses are is unclear, but court papers might eventually shed some additional light.

Darrin Ginsberg had contact with thousands of small business owners in his years selling and setting up credit card accounts, and his own business was successful enough to net him $55 million, money he is now investing.
“I got to see who made it, what made a small business successful,” said Ginsberg, CEO of The Guppy Tank, which will host an event Sept. 12 at Galvanize to select small businesses to fund with between $25,000 and $500,000.
The Guppy Tank is modeled on the popular ABC show Shark Tank, just with a little less bite.Read more…

Thanks to grant support from The Fax Partnership and the West Colfax Business Improvement District, Denver businesses on East and West Colfax Avenue will be getting new coats of paint, windows and exterior lighting.

The Denver Office of Economic Development awarded both organizations about $30,000 each in matching grants to help businesses improve street appeal, pedestrian experience and safety. In addition, up to $100,000 in loan funds will be offered by the Mile High Community Loan Fund for property owners undertaking larger projects.

“Helping our small, locally owned businesses succeed is a key part of the city’s economic development strategy,” said OED executive director Paul Washington. “We’re proud to support facade improvements that further enhance the vitality and character of our Colfax corridor.”

The grant funds are made possible through the city’s Community Development Block Grant federal funding.

“This investment reflects the city of Denver’s commitment to Colfax as its Main Street and laboratory for what works in economic development,” said Dan Shah, director of the West Colfax BID.

Hilarie Portell, executive director of The Fax Partnership, said last year’s pilot facade program with the partnership showed that “little improvements add up. Small business owners are slowly recovering from the recession, and many want to fix up their buildings. These grants help offset their costs and in some cases have incentivized larger projects.’

Facade grants in 2012 included new exterior lights to a multitenant building at Colfax and Cherry Street; new signage for the Phoenician Kabob Restaurant at Colfax and Ivy; new exterior paint for Axum Restaurant on Colfax and Hudson; full renovation of a long-vacant building, Weisco Motorcars, at Colfax and Olive; new exterior siding at State-Wide Lock & Safe at Colfax and Roslyn; and new exterior paint at a multitenant building at Colfax and Quebec.

Grant funding from the OED to The Fax Partnership in 2012 leveraged about $80,000 in private investment by the businesses. With this year’s grant support, the two organizations anticipate leveraging $100,000 each in investment by businesses.

Said Jeff Seifried, executive director of the Mile High Community Loan Fund: “We look forward to working with Colfax property and business owners and the Colfax BIDs in leveraging these grant funds to make property improvements that attract customers and strengthen their businesses. We’re a customer-focused lender, and our staff is eager to discuss facade projects and our loan terms with Colfax businesspeople.”

The facade improvement grants are available to eligible business owners and property owners located on Colfax Avenue between Colorado Boulevard and Yosemite Street, and between Federal and Sheridan.

U.S. Bank, Hendricks Communities LLC and the Brighton Housing Authority announced Thursday they have closed on a $4.5 million loan that will finance construction of a senior housing complex in Brighton.

Libretto Apartments, a 28-unit independent senior living complex that will be located adjacent to Carmichael Park and the Brighton municipal offices, is the first phase of a 70-unit project. The more than 26,000-square-foot development will break ground this month and is scheduled to be completed by September.

“U.S. Bank is committed to affordable housing and community lending development projects across the country,” said Kate Ferguson, senior vice president and regional manager for U.S. Bank’s Community Lending Division. “We are proud to partner with Hendricks Communities, a highly respected developer of affordable housing in the Denver area. The Libretto development will provide versatile housing options for seniors in the Brighton community.”

Colorado-based Hendricks Communities specializes in the development of low- and moderate-income multifamily housing for families and seniors. Company owner J. Marc Hendricks has more than 30 years of experience in the development of residential and commercial properties and has had a 10-year business relationship with U.S. Bank’s lending division.

Amenities at Libretto Apartments will include a community and media room, a computer room, library space and a private dining room.

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The properties were the 688-unit Landings at Buckley in Aurora and the 426-unit Lakes at Monaco Pointe in southeast Denver.

ARA Denver-based principals Terrance Hunt, Shane Ozment, Doug Andrews and Jeff Hawks represented the seller, Jackson Square Properties, a California-based apartment investment group and one of the most active multifamily investors in the state.

Denver-based real estate investor Coughlin and Co. purchased Lakes at Monaco Pointe for $28 million, which represents a price per unit of $65,728 and a price per square foot of $91.88. The Landings at Buckley was purchased by a private investor at an undisclosed price.

Jackson Square Properties first entered the Denver market in 2010 with the acquisition of those properties, which at the time were part of a lender-owned portfolio that also included the 284-unit Lodge at Aspen Grove. ARA Colorado originally listed the portfolio for sale, and at the time it was the largest portfolio to sell in Colorado since the market’s downturn and one of the few portfolios to be foreclosed on, according to Hawks.

Jackson Square purchased Lakes at Monaco Pointe for $17 million, or $39,906 per unit, and resold the property two years later for a 40 percent gain after spending about $3 million on improvements.

Coughlin and Co. is planning on taking advantage of ongoing value-add incentives and Lakes of Monaco Pointe’s location and will invest an additional $3 million in capital to maximize the property’s value.

ARA is the largest privately held, full-service investment advisory brokerage firm in the nation focused exclusively on the multihousing industry.

When it comes to investing in clean tech it helps to have a have a tightly cinched seat belt says Josh Green, a partner in the investment firm Mohr Davidow Ventures.

Menlo Park, California-based Green was in Denver recently to deliver a keynote address to the Colorado Cleantech Industries Association and took a few minutes to offer some thoughts on where the sector is heading.

And it all starts with the roller coaster know as the “hype curve” developed by the Gartner Goup.

“You climb to the peak of inflated expectations and descend into the trough of disillusionment,” Green said. “That’s where we are in a lot of ways.”

But that should lead Green said to a “more realistic, more somber assessment and with that realistic optimism.”

It is the same amount that the venture capital firm raised during its second round.

“We will continue to do exactly what we have always done: invest in seed and early-stage investment opportunities in the software and IT space that are located across the United States,” Foundry managing director Jason Mendelson wrote in a blog post. “We’ll also continue to pursue a strategy of Thematic Investing that has served us well over our investing careers.”

Emilie Rusch covers retail and commercial real estate for The Post. A Wisconsin native and Mizzou graduate, she moved to Colorado in 2012. Before that, she worked at a small daily newspaper in South Dakota. It's the one with Mount Rushmore.